Yao Jingjing had no concept of cerebral gray matter fibrosis, but she knew very well what leukemia was and was deeply afraid of it. So she decided to have a bone marrow transplant first, and then find a way to treat the brain lesions after the surgery. She secretly told her father about this, and he agreed.
The problem now is, where is she going to get a million?
Mama Yao has been diagnosed with leukemia for quite some time now. She has been to hospitals in Spring City and Yangcheng, spending over 200,000 yuan in total. Although Yao Jingjing's salary is not low, she has not worked long hours and has not saved much money. Her father used to have a decent job, but after her mother got sick, he has basically been semi-retired at home.
Cuanzhou is known as the second largest city in Dian Province, but it doesn't even rank among the third-tier cities nationwide. Two hundred thousand yuan is a considerable sum for ordinary people living here. Yao Jingjing's family had already exhausted their savings and borrowed a lot of money from relatives and friends.
Yao Jingjing plans to return to the company tomorrow to apply for an advance on her salary and bonuses. She plans to borrow some from colleagues and ask her classmates and friends in Cuanzhou for help, which should allow her to raise around 100,000 to 200,000 yuan. However, this amount is still far from enough. Even with the portion reimbursed by medical insurance, it won't be sufficient. If all else fails, she will have to secretly sell the house behind her mother's back. But house prices in Cuanzhou are not high; their old house is probably only worth 500,000 to 600,000 yuan.
Around noon, Mama Yao urged Yao Jingjing to go on a blind date, saying the man worked at a bank and was a great catch. Yao Jingjing laughed and said, "Mom, you just want to sell me off, don't you!"
Mama Yao became anxious and said, "What are you saying? I'm only doing this for your own good! And also, please don't mention my illness to anyone. Who wants a mother-in-law with leukemia!"
Yao Jingjing said, "Mom, you don't know him/her!"
Mama Yao said, "I've already introduced you to all the people I know, but you didn't like any of them! This was introduced by your Aunt Zhao; she has connections and knows a lot of people."
Yao Jingjing shook her head and said, "She's unreliable!"
Mama Yao said, "Oh, why don't you go take a look first? If it doesn't suit you, just come back. It's no big deal to just take a look."
Yao Jingjing couldn't refuse her mother, so she went to a coffee shop in the south of the city as agreed.
The café is small but has a great atmosphere, located on an old street in the south of the city. Everywhere you look, there are gray bricks and tiles, and lush old trees that block most of the sunlight, bringing some shade to the street.
Because of her instinctive aversion to blind dates, Yao Jingjing deliberately arrived a little late, hoping to leave a bad impression. If the date fell through, she could at least give her mother an explanation, saying that this time the other person didn't like her.
But after looking around the coffee shop, she realized that the man who was supposed to be waiting for her wasn't there. Yao Jingjing laughed self-deprecatingly, thinking she was late, but it turned out someone was even later than him.
Surely they don't all share the same thoughts! Yao Jingjing thought to herself.
She ordered a coffee, found a corner by the window to sit down, and immersed herself in the languid atmosphere of old jazz music. For some reason, Yao Jingjing suddenly thought of that lazy guy in Spring City who did everything.
There were few pedestrians on the old street outside the window. A figure walked past the alleyway in the distance. Yao Jingjing happened to glance over there and saw the back of the person wearing a trench coat, slightly hunched over, with his hands in his pockets, looking lazy. In a flash, he disappeared into the alley.
Yao Jingjing jumped up from her chair and instinctively tried to chase after him, but her stomach bumped into the table, causing the cups on the table to clatter and spill coffee onto her skirt.
She was completely unaware of it; her heart was pounding. After a while, she slowly sat back down and rubbed her temples.
You must be mistaken. This is Cuanzhou, how could it be him!
I told myself I wouldn't think about it anymore, so why did I bring it up again? Yao Jingjing almost despised herself.
In an alleyway at the entrance of the old street, several thugs gathered together. One of them, a tall, thin man wearing a sun hat, had only two fingers on his right hand.
" Brother Eight Fingers, shall we go for it? Are we just going to wait here?"
"Yeah, it's so hot today! Once we're done, we can go play mahjong."
The thugs, unable to bear the sweltering heat, started urging each other on.
Tang Eight Fingers's eyes narrowed sharply, and he raised his right hand, signaling them to be quiet.
Tang Eight Fingers actually only has seven fingers. Since his right hand only has his thumb and index finger left, whenever he stretches out his hand, it seems to express the meaning of "eight". Thus, he got the nickname " Eight Fingers " in the martial arts world.
Tang Eight Fingers was notorious for his ruthlessness in Cuanzhou. His three missing fingers were not due to any accident, but were chopped off while gambling in a casino. He didn't even blink when he cut off his fingers; he was only sixteen years old that year.
"Wait a little longer." Tang Eight Fingers checked the time. "If Master Ma doesn't call in twenty more minutes, we'll leave."
"Hey, Brother Eight Fingers, why are we leaving? Didn't you say we'd deal with this girl if Boss Ma didn't call?"
Tang Eight Fingers said, "Are you stupid? If Master Ma isn't calling, it means something's happened to him. If something's happened to him, why are you still helping him with his girls? Do you think the police are just sitting around doing nothing?"
"Yes, yes, Brother Eight Fingers really thinks ahead. What a pity, I heard this girl is a flight attendant. I really wanted to sleep with her. If there were drugs in jail, I'd be willing to go to jail for food!"
"Fuck you!" Tang Eight Fingers tapped the lecherous guy on the head with his Eight Fingers. "There are plenty of women out there! Well..." He glanced towards the coffee shop, "Damn it, we'll figure something out once things calm down. We'll get them into our brothers' beds eventually!"
Tang Eight Fingers waited a while, and seeing that it was almost time, he said, "Let's go!"
They had just turned around when they saw a man standing in the middle of the alley. His hair was a mess, like a bird's nest, and stood up as if he had just been speeding and the wind had whipped it around. He wore an old gray trench coat, ripped trousers that were neither quite bell-bottoms nor cropped trousers, and slippers. He had his hands in his pockets, his back slightly hunched, and he looked at them with a lazy, half-smiling expression.
Tang Eight Fingers paused for a moment, then cursed, "Damn, you're insane!" and walked past the man. His thugs, also cursing, filed past on either side.
They had only taken a few steps when they suddenly heard the man behind them say, " Ma Fuqing is dead."
Tang Eight Fingers was startled and quickly turned around, asking in surprise, "What did you say?"
" Ma Fuqing is dead. He wants you to go and keep him company." Qingmu slowly turned around, put his hands in his pockets, and lazily walked towards them.
The slippers made a crisp, clattering sound as they stepped on the bluestone slabs, echoing through the long alley. Tang Eight Fingers saw the light at the alley entrance behind Qingmu growing brighter, while Qingmu's silhouette against the light grew increasingly dark.
The narrow alleyway gradually grew dark, while the light ahead became increasingly dazzling. Tang Eight Fingers found himself standing in a tunnel.
With a long whistle and rumbling vibrations, a high-speed train, like a giant beast traversing time and space, suddenly burst out of the bright light and crashed into the tunnel entrance.
Tang Eight Fingers stood there, unable to move, watching helplessly as the train hurtled towards him.